Sojourners - Corruptionhttp://www.sojo.net/taxonomy/term/558/0
en'Leviathan' a Grimly Familiar Beast http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2015/01/28/leviathan-grimly-familiar-beast
<p style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">When we meet Kolya, the film’s protagonist, he’s in the midst of a long legal battle. He’s about to lose the house he built to the town’s mayor, a paranoid man obsessed with his own job security. Kolya’s already lost in court, but enlists the help of former army buddy Dimitri, a high-powered lawyer, to help him with an appeal. After the appeal’s failure, and some nasty bullying from local officials, Kolya is hit with a seemingly endless avalanche of humiliation and personal catastrophes.</span></p><p style="font-size: 12px;">The fishing village depicted in the film is a run-down hamlet characterized by an impressive amount of skeletal remains — and not just the kind that live in the closet. It’s strewn with ruined buildings, wrecked boats, and massive whale skeletons. In our world, the best architecture serves as a testament to man’s accomplishments, but the buildings and bones of&nbsp;<i>Leviathan</i>&nbsp;do exactly the opposite. They’re a constant reminder of decay and the temporary nature of what we mere mortals spend so much energy building and fighting over.&nbsp;<i style="font-size: 11.8181819915771px;">Leviathan</i><span style="font-size: 11.8181819915771px;">’s target is corruption in Russia, but its themes of pride, personal struggle, and frustration are universal.</span></p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2015/01/28/leviathan-grimly-familiar-beast" target="_blank">read more</a></p>corrupt systemsCorruptionforeign filmGod's PoliticsGolden GlobesleviathanRussian Orthodox ChurchundefinedCulture WatchFilmWed, 28 Jan 2015 19:43:00 +0000Abby Olcese65486 at http://www.sojo.netPope Blasts Vatican Administration, Accuses Some of Spiritual ‘Alzheimer’s’http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/12/22/pope-blasts-vatican-administration-accuses-some-spiritual-alzheimers
<p style="font-size: 11.8181819915771px;">VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis launched a blistering attack on the Vatican bureaucracy on Monday, outlining a “catalog of illnesses” that plague the church’s central administration, including “spiritual Alzheimer’s” and gossipy cliques.</p><p style="font-size: 11.8181819915771px;">The pope’s traditional Christmas greeting to the cardinals, bishops and priests who run the Holy See was more “Bah! Humbug!” than holiday cheer as he ticked off a laundry list of “ailments of the Curia” that he wants to cure.</p><p style="font-size: 11.8181819915771px;">In a critique that left many of the assembled clerics clearly uncomfortable, the 15 ailments in Francis’ “catalog of illnesses” reflected the take-no-prisoners approach he promised when he was elected nearly two years ago as an outsider with little direct experience in Rome.</p><p style="font-size: 11.8181819915771px;">“The Curia is called upon to improve itself, always improve itself and grow in communion, holiness and knowledge to fully realize its mission,” the pope said.</p><p style="font-size: 11.8181819915771px;">“Yet like every body, like every human body, it is exposed to illnesses, malfunctioning, infirmity. They are illnesses and temptations that weaken our service to God.”</p><p style="font-size: 11.8181819915771px;">In a separate address to Vatican staff later, Francis begged pardon for the “shortcomings” of senior church leaders, as well as the “several scandals” that had “caused so much harm,” without specifying which scandals he had in mind.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/12/22/pope-blasts-vatican-administration-accuses-some-spiritual-alzheimers" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Catholic ChurchCorruptionGod's Politicspope francisRacial and Social Justicespiritual alzheimer'sspiritual schizophreniavaticanVatican administrationVatican corruptionEconomic JusticeMon, 22 Dec 2014 19:30:03 +0000Josephine McKenna63951 at http://www.sojo.netMoneyed Speechhttp://www.sojo.net/magazine/2014/06/moneyed-speech
<p>The Supreme Court continues to dismantle campaign finance reform.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2014/06/moneyed-speech" target="_blank">read more</a></p>CampaignCampaign FinanceCorruptionDemocracyElectionsMoneyRacial and Social JusticereformspeechSupreme CourtFaith and PoliticsCommentaryFri, 09 May 2014 18:11:10 +0000Nick Penniman54121 at http://www.sojo.netSupreme Court Doubles Down on Money as Speechhttp://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/04/03/supreme-court-doubles-down-money-speech
<p>Yesterday, the Supreme Court <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/us/politics/supreme-court-ruling-on-campaign-contributions.html?hp&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">struck down</a> a law that limited the amount of money that an individual can contribute to political campaigns in a two-year election cycle, while upholding the limit that an individual can give to a single campaign in the same period. Previously, the law limited total individual contributions to all political campaigns to $48,600, while capping individual donations to a single campaign at $2,600.</p><p>The bottom line of yesterday's&nbsp;<em>McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission</em> ruling is that there will be more money in politics, as the Court doubles down on the controversial <a href="http://www2.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Citizens_United_v_Federal_Election_Commission_130_S_Ct_876_175_L_" target="_blank"> 2010 <em>Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission</em> </a> <em> </em> ruling that allowed unlimited, anonymous expenditures by outside groups on election activities. Those with resources can now contribute up to $2,600 in all 435 congressional districts, more than 30 Senate races, and the presidential election, while at the same time giving millions more to Super PACs in support of these candidates.</p><p>The ruling will give more influence to corporate and labor lobbyists whose groups contribute to political campaigns. It is still illegal to give a donation that explicitly requests a legislative action in return for the contribution. But while politicians spend hours every week making phone calls soliciting contributions, they aren’t likely to forget who is funding their political future. When they hang up the phone and meet a lobbyist in their office whose group is funding their campaign, there is an unspoken understanding that the politician will be more open to the idea that lobbyist is presenting.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/04/03/supreme-court-doubles-down-money-speech" target="_blank">read more</a></p>citizens unitedCorruptionGod's PoliticsKoch brothersMcCutcheon v. Federal Election CommissionMoneymoney in politicsRacial and Social JusticeSuper PACsSupreme CourtFaith and PoliticsThu, 03 Apr 2014 15:00:02 +0000Joey Longley53619 at http://www.sojo.netCitizen Action Making a Vital Difference in South Africahttp://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/03/03/citizen-action-making-vital-difference-south-africa
<p>In the Khayelitsha township near Cape Town, <a href="http://www.baphumelele.org.za" target="_blank">Baphumelele Respite Care Centre and Clinic</a> serves abandoned children as well as ill adults. The staff faces daily the anguish of caring for babies and older children with serious congenital alcohol and drug syndrome or HIV/AIDS complications. A compassionate professional team and scores of volunteers provide education and rehabilitative residential care for countless patients and support to child headed homes.</p><p>A nurse friend on the staff gave witness to the disparity between day-to-day realities when faced with the inadequate response by government and societal leaders. It is stunningly the case in South Africa in the post-Mandela era. The clinic was started in 1989 by the local founding-director Rosealia Mashale, “Rosie,” who could not abandon vulnerable children to the trash heap.</p><p>Even with more than 25 similar agencies active in the sprawling location of mostly substandard housing and services there are thousands still in need.</p><p><a href="http://www.bookstorm.co.za" target="_blank">Professor Jonathan Jansen</a>, a trusted commentator in South Africa and author of <em>We Need to Act</em><strong><em>, </em></strong>reminds citizens to leave their comfort zones and contribute to righting the wrongs of society</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/03/03/citizen-action-making-vital-difference-south-africa" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Apartheidcivic participationCommunityCorruptionDiversityGod's PoliticsgovernmentRacial and Social JusticeReconciliationSouth AfricaMon, 03 Mar 2014 15:14:09 +0000Tom Getman53118 at http://www.sojo.netThe (Anti)Gospel of Francis Underwoodhttp://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/02/17/antigospel-francis-underwood
<p><em>"Did you think I’d forgotten you? Perhaps you hoped I had. Don’t waste a breath mourning ... For those of us climbing to the top of the food chain there can be no mercy. There is but one rule. Hunt or be hunted." - Francis Underwood</em></p><p>So ends the Shakespearean soliloquy at the end of the first episode of&nbsp;<em>House of Card</em>'s highly anticipated second season.</p><p>Underwood lives by a very clear code of ethics: Get to the top and do whatever is necessary to achieve that goal. For him, the end always justifies the means. And so, although it certainly made me wince to see what happens in Season 2's opening episode, I was left in awe at the show’s brutal honesty of what a life purely committed to power potentially looks like.</p><p>Some scenes perhaps strike us viewers as far from reality (<em>Washington can't really be that bad, can it?!?</em>), but other vignettes are far more plausible. Consider Underwood’s commendation of a congresswoman for making the cold, calculated decision to “do what needed to be done” by wiping out entire villages with missile strikes.</p><p>Her “ruthless pragmatism” merely makes Underwood smirk.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2014/02/17/antigospel-francis-underwood" target="_blank">read more</a></p>CorruptionFrank UnderwoodGod's PoliticsgospelHouse of Cardskevin spaceynetflixPoliticsrobin wrightWashingtonCultureCulture WatchFilmFilmLife and PeaceMon, 17 Feb 2014 19:27:16 +0000Greg Coates52918 at http://www.sojo.netNonviolence and the Drug Warhttp://www.sojo.net/magazine/2013/02/nonviolence-and-drug-war
<p>The U.S. and Mexican governments have tried to battle drug violence with more violence. It hasn't worked. Gandhian groups in Mexico offer another way.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2013/02/nonviolence-and-drug-war" target="_blank">read more</a></p>caravansCorruptionDrugsGandhiGangsJusticeMexicoNonviolenceLife and PeacePeace and NonviolenceFeatureMon, 07 Jan 2013 20:22:03 +0000Margaret Regan46086 at http://www.sojo.netA 'Buy-Partisan' Problemhttp://www.sojo.net/magazine/2012/08/buy-partisan-problem
<p>If we want a democracy that represents the public interest, we'll need a system where politicians are no longer bought and paid for by the highest bidders.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2012/08/buy-partisan-problem" target="_blank">read more</a></p>big moneybipartisanshipCorruptionDemocracyPoliticsRacial and Social JusticereformFaith and PoliticsFeatureWed, 01 Aug 2012 15:00:00 +0000Sen. John Marty39614 at http://www.sojo.netFaith and Justice Connection: The Corruption of the Common Goodhttp://www.sojo.net/blogs/2012/07/20/faith-and-justice-connection-corruption-common-good
<p><em><strong>EDITOR'S NOTE</strong>: Each month, </em>Sojourners<em> send out a Faith &amp; Justice Newsletter to folks who are interested in intersection of faith and social action. This month, we pulled content from the magazine and our blogs relating to the corruption of the common good. Enjoy. </em></p><p>This year’s election cycle is expected to cost more than $6 billion -- the most expensive in U.S. history. During election years, members of Congress spend on average 40 to 70 percent of their time fundraising. One quarter of one percent (.25 percent) of donors provided two-thirds of all the campaign cash spent during the 2010 election. In&nbsp;<strong><a href="http://sojo.net/magazine/2012/08/rotten-core#node-39612" target="_blank">a recent article for&nbsp;<em>Sojourners</em></a></strong>, Nick Penniman argues the problem is only going to get worse.</p><p>This influx of campaign cash and the influence of special interests in Washington should cause even the most idealistic citizen to ask whether our politicians have completely lost sight of the common good. If the basis of democracy is each person having an equal voice in government and having her or his interests weighed equally by elected officials, then democracy in the United States appears to be profoundly broken.</p><p>Christians need to wrestle with these questions and discern how we’re called to respond. While our hope resides firmly in Jesus Christ, we can’t ignore the power of government to protect the poor and improve the lives of millions. The command to love our neighbor as ourselves means we cannot ignore the corruption of the common good.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2012/07/20/faith-and-justice-connection-corruption-common-good" target="_blank">read more</a></p>CorruptionGod's Politicsmoney in politicsRacial and Social JusticeEconomic JusticeFri, 20 Jul 2012 20:45:43 +0000the Web Editors40113 at http://www.sojo.netThree Ways to Rid Politics of Big Moneyhttp://www.sojo.net/magazine/2012/08/three-ways-rid-politics-big-money
<p>Big money has corrupted our politics, and We the People want it fixed.</p><p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2012/08/three-ways-rid-politics-big-money" target="_blank">read more</a></p>big moneycitizens unitedCorruptionPoliticsRacial and Social JusticeEconomic JusticeExtendedWeb ExtraThu, 12 Jul 2012 19:58:15 +0000Elaina Ramsey39947 at http://www.sojo.net